Israelis across the country commemorated the nation’s 28,468 fallen soldiers and terror victims with a minute of silence at 8 p.m. on Sunday, as sirens sounded throughout the country. This solemn event is held annually on Memorial Day, which began at sundown on Sunday. The Defense Ministry released figures on Friday indicating that 59 soldiers were killed during their military service since last year’s Memorial Day, and another 86 disabled veterans passed away due to complications from injuries sustained during their service. These numbers bring the total number of soldiers who have died during service to the country since 1860 to 24,213, in addition to the 4,255 terror victims who have been killed.

Three people were injured, one seriously in a ramming attack on Rechov Yaffo near the Machane Yehudah shuk in Jerusalem on Monday afternoon. Emergency medical forces called to the scene are providing treatment to a 50-year-old man with multisystem injuries and two women in their 30s with moderate injuries. The driver of the car was shot by security forces. This is a developing story. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Kenny Rosenberg, the frum nursing home magnate who bought a controlling share of El Al Airlines, has increased his stake in the company from 44.95% to 49.95%, with the additional shares purchased at a price of 4.20 shekels. Rosenberg became the airline’s controlling shareholding in 2020 when he bought 360 million shekels worth of its stock in a Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) offering intended at saving the failing airline from collapse due to the Covid pandemic. He subsequently infused an additional 160 million shekels into the company for additional shares. Rosenberg’s new shares were bought from Israel’s government, which saw its stake in the airline fall from 11.80% to 10.13%, as well as the Borowitz family, whose shares of the company decreased from 6.19% to 5.24%.

An Israeli citizen who volunteered to fight in the Ukrainian army was captured and executed by Russian soldiers in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, Ynet reported. Alexander Dubovic, z’l, was killed on December 23, 2022 but his identity was only publicized in recent days. According to Ukrainian reports, he was captured by Russian forces after being injured in battle and then executed. Dubovic, 34, was born in Dnipro and later made aliyah, where, he married and had two children, now aged nine and two. After Russia invaded Ukraine, he decided to volunteer for the army, telling his wife he wouldn’t be able to look his children in the eyes if he didn’t. Dubovic also left behind his parents and siblings who live in Israel.

A Jewish man is lucky to be alive after being grazed by a bullet fired at him by a man who had just robbed him of his cell phone in Miami. The victim, identified as Shaul Shamai, was parked at the side of the road to attend to a flat tire on his Tesla when he was approached by the robber, who demanded he hand over his phone. When he refused, the suspect opened fire, grazing his leg with a bullet. “He said to me ‘give me your phone.’ He was standing half a feet from me,” Shamai said. “Automatically I say ‘no’ and I stand up with the phone and then when I start to stand up he grab my phone and he shot me in the leg,” Shamai told NBC6. The suspect managed to get away with his phone, but Shamai said he feels lucky. “Lucky me, it was not so hard. Lucky me. I was born today again,” he said.

A Jewish man was the victim of a vicious assault and hate crime in Flatbush, Sunday afternoon. Sources tell YWN that a Jewish man was accosted by a man driving a motorcycle on Ocean Parkway, and accused the Jewish driver of driving too slow. The suspect then followed the man until Avenue P and East 3rd Street, where the victim parked and exited his vehicle holding his young child’s hand. The suspect then parked his motorcycle, and beat the victim with his helmet, while yelling “you (expletive removed) Jew”. The suspect then fled on his motorcycle. Flatbush Shomrim, the NYPD, and Flatbush Hatzolah all responded to the scene. The victim suffered head and facial trauma and was transported by Hatzolah to the hospital.

As President Joe Biden edges closer to announcing his reelection bid, a new poll from NBC News reveals that 70 percent of Americans do not want him to run for a second term. Only 26 percent of those polled said they want the 80-year-old president to pursue a second term. Of those who do not want Biden to run, 69 percent cite his age as a reason why, with 48 percent calling it a “major” reason. The poll also shows Biden facing a steep uphill climb in a general election, with only 41 percent of Americans planning to vote for him in 2024, compared to 47 percent who say they will back the Republican nominee. Despite these numbers, there is a silver lining for the incumbent president.

The third installment of radio host Zev Brenner’s interviews with Aryeh Hospitality proprietor Heshy Goldstein aired last night on Talkine Networks. It was chaotic almost from the start. The interview, which focused heavily on the Atlantic City Pesach hotel debacle that took place this year in which customers and investors lost tens of thousands of dollars when the program was suddenly cancelled a week before Pesach. As has been the case since the debacle first unfolded, customers of the Pesach program were left with few answers as to what exactly happened with their money. Interestingly, an investor who previously worked with Mr. Goldstein called in to the show and offered to put up $25,000 in restitution to the victims if Mr. Goldstein provided evidence for some his claims.

The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Sunday sentenced the chasan from the “hate wedding” to four months of community service, probation and a fine. A year ago, the chasan and six other men were convicted of inciting violence and terror for their involvement in a 2015 wedding in which participants celebrated the Duma arson attack that killed a Palestinian toddler and his parents. A second defendant was sentenced to 180 hours of community service, probation and a fine. The five other defendants have not yet been sentenced. Attorney Moshe Pulaski of the Honenu legal aid organization attacked the court’s decision, saying: “We believe that this case is all political persecution by the prosecutor’s office.

After several days of extensive search efforts, a naval rescue team retrieved the body of the avreich who drowned in the Kinneret. Yisroel Kisos, z’l, a 22-year-old from Elad had gone missing on Wednesday after jumping in the water to swim from his kayak. A massive search effort was launched, with a team only finding his body on Shabbos morning. The niftar left behind a pregnant wife and a one-year-old daughter, and parents and siblings, including a sister whose wedding is in several weeks. The police and IDF issued a joint statement, announcing that hundreds had worked together in the rescue efforts. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)